The Wind in the Willows review has evoked a lot of responses, most of the nostalgic, trying to analyse the meaning behind the book, and the more esoteric and abstract aspects of the book.
What is missed is the following:
The Wind in the Willows is a good, old fashioned tale about the adventures of a group of creatures that inhabit the banks of a river, right from the homely mole, to the upright and straight forward badger, the courageous water rat and the idiotic, egoistic yet lovable toad.
The story begins when Mole is spring cleaning his burrow, and some sudden urge causes him to leave his work and go out, where he meets water rat, and then both of them embark on a series of adventures with badger and toad. The adventures include a short lived caravan ride with the fickle toad; who ditches his lovely caravan for a motor car, is arrested in his new motor car, escapes from jail dressed as a washer woman and finally in the climax, the friends together save Toad Hall from being over run by the wicked weasels.
The book was written as a series of letter by the author, to his little daughter, and was subsequently published and has become a childrens classic, yet enjoyed by both kids and adults alike. The book is full of good humour, is light reading and heart warming and the scenes are written in such an evocative, descriptive style that you feel you are right there in the middle of the story, in the middle of the action. Your feelings go high and low with the characters, right from feeling happy when Mole rediscovers his burrow, to frustration at the antics and ego of Toad, who at heart is rather a kind and silly chap.
A book that is a must have, let alone a must read.
Recent efforts to create stories created with animals as their principal characters include the Redwall series, which I really could not enjoy, in fact I had to drag myself through the only book I read. Titles like Wind in the Willows unfortunately are getting lost in all the hype and marketing and cover art surrounding books like Harry Potter, and the Redwall series.
If you like this book, and most of you will, try out the C S Lewis series about Narnia.
Happy Reading, and if you have already read this, pick up your copy and read it again !